Valve



Dec. 9, 194 7.

H. RUTISHAUSER VALVE Filed Oct. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 9, 1947.H. RUTISHAUSER I 3 VALVE Filed Oct. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTOR EYSPatented Dec. 9, 1947 VALVE Hans Rutishauser, Altadena, Calit, assignorto Aerojet Engineering Corporation, Azusa, Calif., a corporation ofDelaware Application October 11, 1944, Serial No. 558,145

2 Claims. (CL 27760) This invention relates to valves and moreparticularly to automatic valves capable of controlling two or morefluid streams flowing at diiferent pressures.

The invention provides a valve means capable of rapidly andautomatically responding to slight difierential pressures on oppositesides of the valve.

' In my co-pendi'ng application, Serial No. 550,- 695, filed August 23,1944. which matured into Patent No. 2,417,270 on March 11, 1947, I havedisclosed a valve means suitable for operation in a flow'conduit whichrequired a Single valve to control the entire flow through the conduit.

In accordance with a feature of my present invention my valve is adaptedto be placed in the cross sectional plane across two or more fluid fiowconduits, one within the other, in which the pres sure differentialbetween the front and the rear of the valve in the different sectionsmay be the same in both, greater in one, or negative in one and positivein the other. The valve according to my invention is useful incontrolling the flow of several streams of fluid in two or more channelswhere these are within the outer channel, and is particularly useful insome types of jet propulsion motors such as is described in thecopending application of Fritz Zwicky, Serial No. 558,219, filedsimultaneously with this application.

These features of my invention will be more fully understood from thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a partial front view with center portion broken away showingthe square conduit form of the valve;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a valve blade which operates twochannels simultaneously;

Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view, partl in cross section, showingthe valve blade interleaved between two valve members;

Fig. 4 is a partial detailed perspective view looking up from theunderneath side of the valve body;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the valve partly in cross section shown in Fig.1 illustrating these segmental blades and their relation to the inlet.duct;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the valve members; and

Fig, 7 is a sectional end view of a pair of valve members and blades.

The valve is built up of an assembly of flexible blades 1 and a rigidchannel member 2 as illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 respectively.Each rigid channel member 2 comprises a rectangular plate 3, the upperface 01' which is provided with a curvature as shown in Fig. 7. Thelowersurface of plate 3 is provided with a number of channels 4 formed bychannel partitions 5 which are integral with plate 3 and run parallelwith each other as shown. These channel partitions 5 taper in depthbeing deeper at the leading edge and tapering toward the rear edge 1 tocoincide with the thickness of the rear edge of the plate. The uppersurface of member 2 is provided with a series of parallel grooves 8corresponding to the number of channels and positionedso that eachgroove ends approximately near the center between two channel members.Each blade I is rectangular as shown in Fig. 2 in correspondence withthe shape of the channel member as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig, 3 is a perspective view illustrating a flexible blade I sandwichedbetween two adjacent members 2. member 2 is brought out more clearly bythe illustration in Fig. 4, which shows the appearance of the memberfrom below.

The curvature of the face 3 of each channel member is such that the rearedge I of each channel member comes down to meet the rear edge 9 of thecorresponding adjacent valve blade I as more clearly shown in Fig. 2.The arrangement is such that the lower edge ll! of all channelpartitions 5 of each channel member is fiat against the flat surface ofblade member I as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 7. v

By this assembly arrangement the rear edges of flexible blade I are ableto vibrate'so as to alternately contact and move away from the rear edgeI of member 2, This creates the valve action, the valve being closedwhen blade ed e 9 is against valve member edge I. The grooves 8 keep theblade from sticking in the open position.

When the valve assembly is to be adapted for simultaneously regulatingtheflow through two or more channels one within the other in which thepressure differential ma be positive on the discharge side of the valvein one, and negative on the discharge side of the valve in the other, itis necessary to provide slotted valve blades as shown in Figs. 2 and 5.Slots II are cut at the proper point in the blade and the combination ofa series of these permits that portion of the blade which controls flowthrough one channel l2, shown by the dotted circular area in Fig. 5, tooperate separately and independently from that portion of the same bladewhich is operating flow through the outer channel. When the valve as-The appearance of the channel sembly is complete several flexible solidand slotted blades l are alternately interleaved between several channelmembers 2 and they are firmly held near their leading edge l3 betweenchannel strips 5 and the front flat face M of the next. These are stillfurther bound together by long bolts l5 which pass through holes l6 andI! in the valve member and blades respectively. This assemblyarrangement is shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 5 which show thealternate channel member 2 and flexible blades I stacked in the conduitspace which the valve must control.

While the secondary inner conduit I2 as shown in this invention iscircular in shape, this type of valve could be adapted t6 any othershaped conduit as well, by merely adjusting the position of the slots inthe blades to conform with the particular form desired.

In accordance with my invention I have provided a sensitive valvearrangement which is well adapted for insertion in a series of fiuidflow conduits which are within each other and particularly where thischannel or channels are located centrally with respect to the outerchannel.

When the pressure on the fluid of the discharge side of the valve in myconduit is greater or equal to the pressure acting on the fluid in theentrance, the valve bank in that conduit will remain closed therebypreventing a reverse flow of fluid. As soon as the pressure on the discharge side is less than that acting on the entry side of the valve inthe particular conduit the flexible blades will be depressed and permitthe fluid to pass through the valve assembly at that section.

The degree of flexibility required is dependent on the particularoperation. The flexibility may be varied by selecting the properthickness and material of which the blade is to be made. It is evidentthat the valve assembly of my invention may be designed for either highor low pressure dilferentials and provide an effective automatic valvemeans capable of operating one or more ducts or channels through onevalve assembly which does not require any complicated moving parts andwhich may be easily repaired and assembled.

I claim:

1. An automatically operable valve adapted to control separately theflow of fluids through a plurality of conduits disposed within oneanother, comprising a plurality of rigid plates provided with channelmembers forming channels in the direction of fluid flow and a pluralityof flexible blades interleaved between the rigid plates, said bladeslying substantially in the plane of fluid flow and being rigidly held attheir forward edges against the respective channel members, and adaptedto rest against the rear edges of the channel member to close the valveand to be flexibly moved away from the rear edges by fluid pressure onthe blades to open the valve, the wall of the inner conduit beingbrought up against the forward edge of the channel members and a numberof adjacent ones of said blades being provided with slots projectingthereinto from the rear edges toward the front edges to a point adjacentthe rigidly held portions thereof, said slots extending substantiallyparallel to the direction of fluid flow, the slots being so positionedthat a line passing through all of the slots describes a closed area inthe configuration of and coinciding with the inner conduit.

2. In combination with a pair of fluid flow conduits one of which iscircular in section and 10-,

. cated within the other, an automatically operable valve adapted tocontrol separately the flow of fluids through both of said conduits,said valve comprising a plurality of rigid plates provided with channelmembers forming channels in the direction of fluid flow and a pluralityof flexible blades interleaved between the rigid plates, said bladeslying substantially in the plane of fluid flow and being rigidly held attheir forward edges against the respective channel members, and adaptedto rest against the rear edges of the channel members to close the valveand to be flexibly moved away from the rear edges by fluid pressure onthe blades to open the valve, the circular end wall of the inner conduitbeing brought up against the forward edge of the channel members, and anumber of said blades lying adjacent each other being provided withparallel slots projecting a substantial distance thereinto from the rearedges toward the front edges to a point adjacent the rigidly heldportions thereof, said slots extending substantially parallel to thedirection of fluid flow, the slots being so positioned that a linepassing through the slots will describe a circle coinciding with thecircular wall of the inner conduit.

HANS RUTISHAUSER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Great Britain Sept. 21, 1939

